Go West, Young Lady

After opening the season with eight of its first 13 games at home, the Liberty
are headed into its longest road trip of the season with three games against
the top teams in the WNBA's Western Conference across five days. New York is
looking to turn the tables this season, after coming up 1-5 against Sacramento,
Los Angeles and Seattle last year. This season, it has been an even draw (2-2)
against teams from the West. NYLiberty.com takes a look at each road
match-up.

First on the agenda for the Liberty are the Sacramento Monarchs, who are holding
the first-place spot in the West. The Liberty has a score to settle with the
Monarchs after they were topped twice last season by a total of 30 points. New
York may hold the all-time regular season series with a record of 11-10, but
the Liberty have not captured a victory over Sacramento since July 22, 2005.

The game tips-off locally at 7:00PM and will be aired on ESPN2. This game marks
the second time that the Liberty have been featured on ESPN2 this season. The
Liberty hold an impressive 20-17 all-time record when the game is being broadcast
on ESPN/ABC’s airwaves.

In its last meeting in 2006, New York was led by guard Erin Thorn with a game-high
20 points. With Thorn on the sidelines this trip and the Monarchs’ Kara
Lawson, Nicole Powell and Rebekkah Brunson posting double figures this season
(with 13.0, 12.2 and 11.5 ppg respectively), the Liberty will need a team effort
to begin its west coast jaunt with a “W.”

The Liberty will face off against the Sparks in the second leg of its three-game
Pacific Coast stretch on Friday, June 29 at 7:30PM (PST). Look for New York
to be hungry for a victory at STAPLES Center, because although this all-time
series is deadlocked at 10-10, Los Angeles holds an advantage on its home court
with a record of 6-3.

The game will mark a homecoming for point guard Loree Moore, who grew up just
15 miles south of Los Angeles in Carson. Moore returns to California for just
the third time in her professional career. While attending Narbonne High School,
she led the team to an overall record of 115-7, en route to three California
State Championships ('98, '00 , '01) and two USA TODAY national titles ('00
and '01).

This season, Moore is averaging career highs in assists with 4.5 and steals
with 2.1. Her 10.1 points per game is also a career high thanks in part to her
improved accuracy of .455 shooting from beyond the arc. Against Phoenix on June
3, she scored a career-high 22 points, shooting 4-6 from beyond the three-point
line. The Liberty will look to its point guard to step up in her hometown and
lead them past Michael Cooper and the Sparks.

The Liberty wrap up their West Coast swing with a visit to Sue Bird, Lauren
Jackson and the Seattle Storm on Sunday, July 1. Jackson scorched the Liberty
last year with 26 points in their first meeting and passed the torch to teammate
Iziane Castro Marques who duplicated Jackson’s effort with a career-high
26 points in the second meeting.

For this matchup, the Liberty will turn to veterans Shameka Christon and
Cathrine Kraayeveld. Christon scored a career high 25 points in Seattle last year and
led the team with an average of 15.5 points per game in the two losses to the
Storm last year. Kraayeveld is having a banner season for the Libs, pulling
down 5.8 rebounds a game and remains one of the team’s most consistent
scorers.

Kraayeveld, whose father Dave played for the Seattle Seahawks, is a native
of the Seattle area. She also spent her collegiate career as a Duck at the University
of Oregon. In her senior season, she averaged 14.7 points and 8.3 rebounds a
game, and was named to the All-Pac 10 First Team and a Kodak All-American All-Region.

Tune in all this week to catch every minute of the Liberty’s action out
West.